For approximately 58/60ths of his round, Si Woo Kim was good. So let’s start with the overwhelming majority. 

He was good with playing partners Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, and he was good with their conversation, which apparently was so good that he said he couldn’t share what was said, and he’ll leave it at that. “But it was enjoyable,” he said. He was good, too, with TPC Craig Ranch, in McKinney, Texas, which is close to Kim’s home, and he was good with the event, the Byron Nelson backed by CJ Cup, which backs Kim. “So everything feels like home and feels comfortable,” he said. 

He was good on hole 1. Birdie on a 6-foot putt. And hole 3. Birdie again, on a 17-footer. And hole 5. Birdie again, after nearly getting home on the par-5 in two. And hole 6. Birdie again, after dropping a wedge to 4 feet. And hole 7. Birdie again, after rolling in a 19-foot putt. And hole 9. Birdie again, his sixth of the front nine, after sitting just over the green in two on the par-5. 

Then came the back nine. More good. 

Birdie on 10, on a 17-footer. Birdie on 11, after sticking an iron to 2 feet. Birdie on 12, after hitting to 5 feet from a greenside bunker on the par-5. Birdie on 14, after making an 8-foot putt. Birdie on 15, after hitting his tee shot on the par-3 to 8 feet, though Kim said he felt funky. “Some guy was making sneeze during my backswing,” he said, “so I pull out back and hit a wrong shot, and it went straight.” At this point, folks were starting to talk about a 59, which only 14 players have accomplished in PGA Tour history, or a 58, which only Jim Furyk has shot. Hell, if Kim birdied his last three holes, he could fire a 57. 

“I was joking there earlier,” Scheffler said, “I felt like I was hitting all my shots to 15, 20 feet and Si Woo was hitting all his shots to like 8 feet or closer.

“Yeah, it was fun to watch.”

Kim parred 16. But he birdied 17, which was good, and so was the putt. From just over the green and 16 feet away, Kim curled in a right-to-lefter. Maybe the most interesting stat of Kim’s round was that he took just 20 putts. He put himself in makable range, and he made putts — and when he was off the green, like he was on 17, he made those, too. 

On to 18, where a par would’ve given him the 59. From the tee, he found the fairway. Good. That was stroke 56. 

From 200 yards away, stroke 57 went 215 yards, and it sailed over the green. 

Adrenaline, he said. After 17, he admitted he was dreaming of the 59, though he said he even chose a 6-iron over a 5.

“I think it was too much pumping,” he said of his heart. “So it went farther than I thought.”

Stroke 58, from over the green, came up well short. Kim said he spun it too much. 

He had 18 feet left for par and the 59. 

The game Anthony Kim left in 2012 and then returned to in 2024 was very different, and perhaps no aspect was more different than the equipment.

Back in 2012, TaylorMade was still selling a white driver, Callaway just released their first adjustable one, Fujikura was still six years from releasing Ventus and Nike was still making golf clubs. Not to mention the practice of fitting had advanced leaps and

Needless to say, Kim did a lot of catching up between then and his breakthrough win earlier this year in Australia.

With Kim returning on LIV Golf, lot of that re-education fell to Ben Giunta, the owner of the Tour Van, LIV Golf’s lone Tour Truck. On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, Giunta reflected on what it was like to reintroduce Anthony Kim to modern equipment.

Giunta worked with Kim previously back when he worked as the Nike Tour rep and Kim was coming up as a young player.

“I remember walking down, we were at Doral, and I was walking across the range and about halfway down the range, he sees me and throws his arms out,” Giunta said. “The funniest part actually is I still wear a bunch of Nike garb… He thought I still worked for Nike.”

After the two shared a laugh, they got to work and Giunta brought out a “this orange box” to watch him hit balls on the range.

“And he’s like, what the hell is this? Yeah, like he had no idea. He didn’t know anything about numbers,” Giunta said. Kim had never used a Trackman before.

Kim had always relied on his feel and watching ball flight to determine if equipment was working because launch monitors simply weren’t as useful as they are now.

But he and Giunta slowly got to work as Kim got back into the swing of playing regular competitive golf. As Kim got more in the groove, his speed came back and even increased, resulting in more changes to his bag.

It eventually culminated in his win at LIV Golf Adelaide in February.

For more from Giunta and co-hosts Johnny Wunder and Jake Morrow, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here, or watch it below.

Want to find the best driver for your bag in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

Anthony Kim completed one of the most inspirational and improbable comebacks that professional golf has ever seen, out-dueling Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau to win the individual title at LIV Golf Adelaide on Sunday.

After 12-1/2 years away from competitive play due to injuries and personal challenges, Kim returned in 2024 to join LIV Golf. He struggled early while trying to shed the rust and recapture the magic during his early years as a pro.

Thanks to his mantra of “1% better every day” determination, he’s shown dramatic improvement the last few months – and this week at The Grange, he completed the journey, proving that anything is possible.

Not only did Kim capture his first win of any kind in nearly 16 years, he did so while in the final group against two of the best players in the world who simply could not keep up with his iron play and hot putter.

“I’m very overwhelmed with this feeling right now,” said Kim, who began the week working out visa issues to get into Australia, then officially signed with 4Aces GC just before the tournament started.